So, did you see the Tonys? What did you think? Are you a big old theatre geek? I admit to it proudly, because being a theatre geek is very different than being an actor.

-- Kymm (hedgehog@hedgehog.net), June 05, 2000

Answers

I'm a theatre geek wannabe. When you live in the boonies and don't have a lot of money, you're relegated to community theatre, some of it so-so, some of it downright awful. The only time we actually have a theatre orgy is when we get to London, then we mortgage our souls and see everything.

However, yes I watched the Tonys. I was rooting for Bob Stillman (Dirty Blonde) just 'cause I sorta know him from when he was doing "The Last Session," but I obviously hadn't seen any of the productions and was only familiar with the revivals.

But I'm an awards show junkie and wouldn't have missed it for anything. The Tonys is usually the best of the awards show.

-- Bev Sykes (basykes@dcn.davis.ca.us), June 05, 2000.

Theater geek here. One who just returned from NYC because I had to see the shows before the Tony's :) Lame, huh?

Things that thrilled me: Superstar. I saw it twice. Loved, loved it. Too bad Tony Vincent is so vain and wouldn't wear his sunglasses in the number because he wanted America to see his face. Too bad he's so damned talented too. Kiss Me Kate - AMAZING show. It totally deserved the award, as did Brian Stokes Mitchell. I could not have been happier about Heather Headly winning for AIDA. She's the best thing on broadway right now.

Things the sucked: Contact. Everyone says it's amazing. I'm sure it is. But I don't get all pre-recorded music. Is that a musical?? We can debate until the cows come home. Moo. How can a show, for argument's sake AIDA, win for best Actress, best score, best scene design, and NOT be nominated for best musical?? Curious. Also Best Featured Actress - two people who just dance, two who just sing - I know it's hard work but the catagory has ACTRESS in the title. Just me?? And why put the fab Jesse L. Martin in a lame opening number like that?? Why??

I get too into this and am far too opinionated. The Tony's are getting as political as any awards show today. But Tony night is better then my birthday.

-- Tania (mimim73@yahoo.com), June 05, 2000.

I couldn't help but wish for a little more retrospection. You know? I'm a sucker for tributes to Great Moments Past, and the very short one at the very beginning (when Ann R. said weepily, "This one's for you, Bobby,") left me hungry for more. I know some people hate montages, but I love them. I get misty-eyed, I weep, it's marvelous. I realize that CBS would never give more than 2 precious hours to the Tony Awards, but I could have stood some more nostalgia.

And I thought the opening number was lame, even though I am semi-fond of Jane Krakowski, I semi-worship Megan Mullally, and I downright adore Jesse L. Martin. It just seemed lacking somehow. Any ideas on other stars who "started on Broadway" who might have given the number more "oomph"?

-- dora (dora@wordsdiminish.com), June 05, 2000.

Theatre geek wannabe in the worst kind of way!

My first show was May 20, 2000 with Cabaret at Heinz Hall and I'm 35 years old!

I need my ass kicked.

-- Nance (nance@geeksandgargoyles.com), June 05, 2000.

*sigh* I admit. I'm a has-been theatre geek. When I was in high school I never missed the Tony Awards, or the Macy's Thanksgiving Day parade, or anything else that would give little Michiganian me a glimpse of what was going on on Broadway. This was when I was absolutely certain my destiny was going to lead me to the stage.

It didn't, and I started to drift. It makes me sad. The last thing I saw live in a theatre was... hell. I can't remember. It's been at least since 1993, I think. The last real play I was /in/ was a very very bad atrocious the-director-was-on-Valium college production of Sweeney Todd.

I miss it. I think it's time to reclaim my roots.

-- Lisa Nichols (lisa@selkie.net), June 05, 2000.

My mom and aunts are visiting this weekend so we all went to the Tonys (nosebleed seats, but who cares?). We had gone the other two years Rosie hosted it, too. I don't get the impression that she's all that excited about hosting it now compared to then.

There were a few jokes during the commercials: (paraphrased)

ROSIE: Let's be like the actors on True West and switch roles NATHAN: OK NATHAN proceeds to do a decent impression of Rosie ('cutie patootie', Tom Cruise, etc.) ROSIE: OK, Now I will do you ROSIE (as Nathan, patting her face): How's my beard? NATHAN: I'm fine, how are you?

(My mom isn't exactly the type you want to explain those jokes to. Trust me.) **** ROSIE (I think): So they're saying there is scientific evidence that you can tell if someone is gay by how long their fingers are NATHAN: Yeah as soon as that report was released Kevin Spacey was spotted in WalMart buying mittens

Crowd 'ooooh''d and hissed that one. ****

Also - I saw The Wild Party last weekend with my MIL. Yikes. I had no idea there was nudity in it and we were sitting in the third row when Toni took off her top and shook her chest. Toni has a very good voice, as does pretty much everyone else in that cast except Eartha and Mandy (I'm sure some love his, but it gets on my nerves). I went to SWING! the night before the Tonys only because my mother loves that sort of music. I thought it would really stink, but it was a lot better than I expected. Calloway really deserved her nomination - she has an incredible voice. I was so glad that Roy won - loved them all in that play. I really liked True West, too, but didn't think they'd win anything for it. People at RCMH were going nuts for Contact. I haven't seen it, but I think I'd like to. They loved the Real Thing there, too. I haven't seen that one, either.

OK, I've written a book! Sorry!

-- Stephanie (sneener@yahoo.com), June 05, 2000.

No, great to hear from someone that was actually there! It has never occurred to me that you can just GO to the Tonys, I don't know why. The beard joke was on the air, by the way.

-- Kymm Zuckert (kymmz1@yahoo.com), June 05, 2000.

Okay, I am going to out myself as a naive little twerp and admit that I didn't get the beard joke. I hereby entreat someone to shed light on this hilarity for me so I can laugh like I mean it and not in that fake way where I just laugh because everyone else is laughing and feel like an uberdork. Please? Thank you.

-- dora (dora@wordsdiminish.com), June 05, 2000.

Wow--I almost got a personal invite to respond to this topic! :-)

I loves me some Jesse L. Martin. MMMMMMM. But why why why did the girls get to sing LOTS of their song and strut around while Jesse only sang a verse--to ROSIE? Sigh. More Jesse. MORE. And while the number was kinda lame, it was so much better than the year they let Rosie sing with all the casts. Cute, but scary.

You know, I like Boyd Gaines as well as the next girl, but COME ON, he has like five lines in that show. I figured the three Kiss Me Kate guys would cancel each other out, but I saw and adored James Joyce's The Dead and Stephen Spinella was wonderful. That show was wonderful. It totally deserved best book.

But...wtf with the camera people who didn't know how to film it? They were never concentrating on anything interesting. And Christopher Walken wasn't in the number, I'm assuming, because he's not in the cast that's going to the Ahmanson (of course, neither is Blair Brown). But Walken wasn't very good in it. He didn't bring his facial expressions the night I saw it.

Speaking of Blair Brown...um...could she have looked any more "I SO knew I was winning this!". And what in heck was she wearing? Hideous, hideous flowered thing ugh.

So glad Stokes won (totally robbed for Ragtime--I find Alan Cumming frightening in the same way I do clowns), and apparently, so was the audience. Even if he beat my beloved Mandy, I'm so glad he won. But- -Heather Headley? HEATHER HEADLEY? Over Marin Mazzie? Sorry. S-O- R-R-Y.

And some total randomness...

Must now see The Real Thing. Must now see True West. Must now see Kiss Me Kate (always wanted to see that). I love The Music Man, but was it me or was that number totally lackluster? Didn't Eartha Kitt look like she was going to fall over at any moment? Why why why, Ann Reinking, why did you do that to your face? Why why why does anyone want to see Superstar? It looks like total shit. Jennifer Ehle looks like she's going to a sidewalk cafe.

Thank God I'm seeing The Wild Party on Wednesday, as it's sure to close. The music is *marvelous*, so I can only assume that people aren't going either A. because the book is bad or B. because there's an orgy and stuff.

-- Melissa (centerbeth@yahoo.com), June 05, 2000.

Answers:

A beard is a date that you are not dating to disguise who you really are dating. A gay man would bring awoman to pretend that he's straight, or a woman dating a married man would have another man on her arm to disguise the fact that she's actually with that married man over there.

Usually the term is used in gay situations these days.

And I want to see Superstar because I love Superstar, the production is less important to me. How did Steve like it?

And isn't The Wild Party getting no audiences because it got universally panned?

-- Kymm Zuckert (kymmz1@yahoo.com), June 05, 2000.

O yeah, and I cannot believe that you don't like Alan Cumming! He is a god who walks as man, baby.

-- Kymm Zuckert (kymmz1@yahoo.com), June 05, 2000.

I am a theater geek who probably has no business being a theater geek. Why? I have never seen a show on Broadway.. I have seen many shows when they travel to Philadelphia, but I've never set foot in a Broadway theater.

I watched the first hour of the Tonys and taped the second hour. I enjoyed what I say. I love Nathan Lane. Rosie is Rosie is Rosie. I liked her the first year she hosted more than this year.

I would have loved it if they had Jesse L. Martin and Jerry Orbach singing together. I can't even tell you how happy that would have made me. Words fail me.

-- Laura (lbhelfrich@yahoo.com), June 05, 2000.

i am a huge theater geek (with a declared major in scenic design and dramatic lit, even) just back from studying theater in london for three months. oh, man, do i miss the west end and patrick marber and student concession tickets.

anyway, i watched the tonys only because i saw copenhagen in london in march and couldn't believe that it was nominated for best play and then subsequently won! i mean, come on: this is michael frayn we're talking, author of the absolutely flawless and brilliant noises off and copenhagen was so not up to his standards. though i have heard blair (what's her last name, god damn it) is fabulous as margreta ... the show just doesn't do it for me and didn't do it for most of my classmates, either. too bad shepard wrote true west so many years ago - if it was actually new, it should have won.

-- aggie (donkara@carleton.edu), June 05, 2000.

Sorry - didn't know they aired the beard thing... a little surprised about that one. I would love to see True West again when they have switched parts. We saw them in the opposite roles that they were nominated for. I really like Philip Seymour Hoffman. In case you don't have time to wait at TKTS (or don't have connections some other way) I go to playbill.com and usually get my tickets through there (or work - discounts equal about the same).

I love Allan Cummings and am bummed that I didn't get to see him in Cabaret. I've read he's going to possibly be in something this Fall (?), though. Does anyone have any idea what it is?

I was just looking at this. Someone needs to throw Bebe a sandwich.

-- Stephanie (sneener@yahoo.com), June 05, 2000.

Okay, I'm going to tell you a secret fantsy of mine. But remember, it's a secret, so don't tell anybody!

I have this dream of meeting Jerry Orbach and saying to him "I'll give you a hundred bucks if you'll sing the 'I Hate Him/Her Face' duet from Carnival with me!" and him saying yes and singing it with me right there and then. I love that duet, I love him in that show, and I can sing the fuck out of that song.

I lead a complex fantasy life.

-- Kymm Zuckert (kymmz1@yahoo.com), June 05, 2000.

I didn't watch the Tony's, but I did want to respond to the people who mentioned Jesus Christ Superstar.

I absolutely love this show, but I am partial to the original London production which I saw many (MANY) years ago. I saw the revival a few weeks ago, 6th row center seats. The level of cheese was exceptionally high, but because I am so very fond of the music it was only mildly irritating.

I must say though, Judas absolutely steals the show - poor Jesus (played by an actor who bears an unfortunate resemblance to Michael Bolton when he still had hair) is really just a foil for Judas' showcase. Judas gets the big production numbers and the flashy costumes - Jesus gets to run around in a sheet looking anguished until the finale when he gets nailed to the cross.

Tony Vincent - the actor who plays Judas - is really good, although it took me a while to warm up to him. When he first appeared I kept thinking to myself "The fucking Mickey Mouse Club ruins everything". His performance has alot of boy-band, Britney Spears type posturing which takes some getting used to, but by the end I was rooting for him since Jesus was such an interminable bore.

Anyway, if you enjoy the music you will definitely enjoy the revival, as it is very true to the original production.

-- Sarah (scampbell@frankfurtbalkind.com), June 05, 2000.

I swore, Kymm, that when I finally moved in reasonable proximity to Broadway, I would become a theatre geek. Unfortunately, by the time I achieved that goal, Broadway sucked. It says something that the best scripts in Manhattan for the past five years have been revivals. (The only "new" show I've even vaguely wanted to see, given that Charles Busch apparently isn't writing anymore, has been Hedwig and the Angry Inch ... and I avoided that once I bought the soundtrack and realized I couldn't stand the music.)

Of course, there are those who say that Broadway isn't about script, it's about spectacle. While I like a big glitzy musical, with its inherent suspension of logic, as much as the next person, I disagree. Those old Rodgers and Hammerstein chestnuts may have had trite plots, but at least they had plots. I blame this disturbing lack of plot on Andrew Lloyd Weber. Yes. I lay the blame directly at his feet. Only shows he ever wrote that had plots stole someone else's (i.e. Gaston Leroux and perhaps this little New Testament thang).

By the by, I adore Jesus Christ Superstar. I was a most excellent Judas in high school. I don't have the range for it anymore. (Why does Jesus get all the press when Judas has the most lines and the most demanding part in the show?) What's wrong with a production of it that looks like Tommy? Isn't that how it's supposed to look? We did ours extremely stark and Our Town-no-frills-ish, but that's because we were broke.

And what DO they make scenery out of these days, if not canvas and wood?

-- Columbine (columbine@inu.org), June 05, 2000.

I live pretty close to NYC, and I don't go to Broadway that often. Most of what plays there doesn't excite me, despite being a big old theatre geek.

I believe that most of the good theatre is happening in the tiny New York houses and in regional theatres, and I'm not just saying that because I work at one. We had a reading of a new play here at work on Friday night. It's called "Waiting For Tadashi", and it will have its world premiere on our mainstage next season. It is, frankly, brilliantly done. An extraordinary piece of theatre. The best play I've read in five years. It won't ever make it to Broadway, but it will have a life after this theatre.

Broadway has lately been about big, big, big. A tiny little show I loved, "You're A Good Man, Charlie Brown", never found an audience when it got to NY. People were too busy queueing up to see Toni Braxton in Beauty and the Beast or Cats for the hundredth time. I want to see some of the big musicals as the next person, but even more, I want to support the smaller houses that are doing the valuable artistic work that will allow theatre to continue and flourish.

Oops. That wasn't supposed to be a lecture. In fact, I'm not sure that it even made sense! :-)

-- Melissa (centerbeth@yahoo.com), June 05, 2000.

I have to agree that the revial of JCS is amazing. Like I said up above (see up above) I saw it twice in 4 days. Tony Vincent is a perfect Judas. His voice is astounding and he is the first Judas I have ever seen, where you can actually witness the conflict he goes through. And then see the remorse. You see every wheel turning in his head. You love him, you hate him, you feel for him, you hate him, you want to help him. There are so many little moments that made me shiver or brought tears to my eyes. He is wonderful. As is the lovely Maya Days as Mary. Mary can be a very boring role but she brings this soft seductive sweetness to it.

And how can you go wrong with that music?? The minute the overture started I practically burst into tears. I know it is being panned over and over again. But I have yet to hear one good reason why so and so hated it. I would love to listen to valid arguments.

-- Tania (mimim73@yahoo.com), June 05, 2000.

I am a big theatre geek...gosh, two degrees in it should be a clue...

Just my own personal opinion, no JCS experience for me can eclipse seeing Ted Neely and Carl Anderson do the revival tour a few years back. There were both absolutely on top of their game and brought down the house...I tend to be disappointed with other productions because of comparing them to Carl, especially...

Lastly Kymm, I do believe True West had material placed back into the script by Sam so that there was indeed new material available and it could qualify as best new play.

Cheers!

Becky

-- Becky Dodd (r_m_dodd@hotmail.com), June 05, 2000.

I love musicals, but "JCC"...ewww. The only thing worse is "Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dream Coat". That's the worst show I've ever seen.

The Tonys are the only awards show I watch, but I think last night's was only so-so. God, I detest Rosie O'Donnell...and that opening number was horrible. More of that "the theater has always been my first love" crap by sitcom stars.

What Kymm said about Eartha Kitt.

Roy Dotrice's acceptance speech was lovely. [Why is it only Americans have to thank the Lord and every friend and relative they have?]

I must be getting conventional in my dotage, but the only shows I'd want to see [that did excerpts] are "Music Man" and "Kiss Me Kate". Recorded music? I think not. Having to listen to "Sing Sing Sing" for the ten thousandth time? No thanks.

-- Joy (jrothke@earthlink.net), June 05, 2000.

Answers:

When I said that Superstar looked like Tommy, I didn't mean it as an insult, as I saw Tommy twice on Broadway and know it by heart, I was just surprised that no-one had ever mentioned it before.

And Broadway scenery isn't made with canvas and wood anymore, because it's made with bricks and mortar. No, just kidding, they probably use wood, but canvas flats are for theatres like mine, everything's much more solid now.

-- Kymm (kymmz1@yahoo.com), June 05, 2000.

Since I'm enough of a theatre geek to actually own the cast recording of Dance a Little Closer (Lerner's last musical), of course I watched the Tony Awards. And I am more and more convinced that the American musical theatre is dead. Of the original musicals nominated, none of them looked like they had any depth. The revivals seem more promising but how could one go wrong with Cole Porter. Oh,a nd Kymm, I've got dibs on Jerry Ohrbach and his is to sing "Soon It's Gonna Rain" to me!

-- Miriam Nadel (mhnadel@cinenet.net), June 06, 2000.

Wait just a gosh darn minute. I believe I mentioned Jerry first, so he's mine, all mine.

I have a thing for mature Broadway musical actors. Jerry Orbach, Len Cariou, George Hearn. I don't want to do anything with them, exactly. I just want them to sing to me.

-- Laura (lbhelfrich@yahoo.com), June 06, 2000.

Jerry Orbach bitch-slap fight!

Listen, one little song, that's all I want, one little duet, don't be selfish, Jerry's big enough to spread round to all of us! Love me some Len Cariou as well, you can keep George Hearn, though.

-- Kymm (kymmz1@yahoo.com), June 06, 2000.

I'm not at all a big old theatre geek, but now I wanna be. I feel like I've been missing out all these years.

I have seen one play on Broadway. Frank Langella in Dracula. Ahhhhh, that was enough to keep me going for quite some time.

-- Catherine (catcoicrit@earthlink.net), June 06, 2000.

Felt compelled to jump in because--uhh--it's better than working?

I'm a theatre geek, I suppose, but I'm a marginalized minority within that marginalized minority 'cause I don't get into the musicals much. Seen about ten shows in New York in the past two years, only one of them a musical. Madness, you say? Perhaps. If it weren't for, y'know, all the pesky singing and dancing...

Enjoyed the Tonys. Enjoyed seeing that the Emmys and the Oscars aren't the only awards shows that get a hold of a small handful of shows like a dog with a bone and don't let go. Happy to see THE REAL THING kick butt 'cause I saw it and dug it, but sorry to see the actors in TRUE WEST go home empty-handed. And it never really hit me until this year that watching the Tonys makes theatre seem like a World Without Playwrights. Even the Oscars bring screenwriters up on stage, and Hollywood treats its writers like red-headed cabana boys.

-- Eric (epfeffin@indiana.edu), June 06, 2000.

Yeah I'm a big ole theatre geek.

So much so that I was doing costume renderings, memorizing lines and working on a character bio instead of watching the Tony's.

I'm not much of a musical lover, though. There are a few I simply love (Cabaret and Hair to top the list), but I'm more of comedy lover. Give me Neil Simon over Jesus Christ any day.

-- Jackie (jackie@jackie.nu), June 06, 2000.

You gals can have Jerry...Dora and I have to fight over Mandy Patinkin and Brian Stokes Mitchell [he's so fine he blows my mind].

-- Joy (jrothke@earthlink.net), June 06, 2000.

I just got back from NYC yesterday with my drama club trip. Here are the shows we saw:

Lion King- It was great, but it was too much like the movie for me to not get bored. They do some really awesome lighting/staging things. Unfortunately, we had an understudy for older Simba who lip synced the entire second act.

Rent- Twice as good as everyone told me it'd be. I was expecting good, and it was awesome.

Kiss Me, Kate- Far and away my favorite. Amazing performances, costumes, songs... everything. I bought the CD. Kymm, don't judge it by "Too Darn Hot" (the number from the Tonys). I think they like to do that one because it's got the most dancers and it doesn't have any of the stars. Really it doesn't have anything to do with the rest of the show. I wish they'd have had Amy Spanger sing "Always True to You (in my Fashion)" because it's a great song and she's got a wonderful voice. Go see this show. It's worth the $81.00.

Jesus Christ Superstar- This is not one of my favorite shows, and honestly I was a little bit bored with it. (We were also a little dissapointed that Jesus and Mary were understudied.) I did, however, enjoy the Last Supper and the ending. Judas really saved the show for me. Afterwards, we got to do a talk-back with the entire cast. One of the disciples admitted he didn't really like the show that much. Hehe.

Footloose- I could have done without this one. That's all I'm saying.

We also saw Blue Man Group. If they come to your town on tour, don't even think about not buying tickets. I've never had so much fun at a show.

It only took me six days in New York City to turn into a theatre geek. It was really cool to see the people we'd seen on stage days earlier on TV. Meeting celebrities was pretty neato, too. I shook Gabriel Byrne's hand in Joe Allen's and hit Susan Lucci in the eye with Sardi's bathroom door. Whoops. :)

-- Rachael Osborn (rachaelosborn@hotmail.com), June 06, 2000.

Okay, Dora and Joy. Just back away slowly. I mean it. Y'all can fight over Stokes, but Mandy is ALL mine. He kissed me four years ago when I saw his concert. MINE. And today, joy of joys, I'm seeing him in The Wild Party (2 hrs and 20 no intermission-- oy), and our love will be reborn, I am sure of it.

-- Melissa (centerbeth@yahoo.com), June 07, 2000.

Melissa, it's okay if you want to believe that Mandy is really yours, because I'm secure in the knowledge that he sings to me nightly. But I do count on you to give us the scoop on The Wild Party tomorrow -- whether it truly sucked, whether you were able to wrangle any lip action from Mandy, and so forth.

-- dora (dora@wordsdiminish.com), June 07, 2000.

"Too Darn Hot" absolutely has nothing to do with the rest of the show. That's the point. Ever see the movie? "We really wanted this number but we couldn't find a way to fit it in."

I did a performance of "Always True To You (In My Fashion)" once for a lipsynch show. I am not going to tell you what I was wearing.

I think of Len Cariou and George Hearn as "the good Sweeney Todd" and "the bad Sweeney Todd" respectively. Of course, it doesn't help that I have the whole Cariou soundtrack in my head, and the videotape of Sweeney (with Hearn) is a textbook example in How Not To Film A Stage Performance - it's absolutely horrible and it was done late, late, late in the run (Angela Lansbury's phoning it in by that point). So I may not be giving Hearn enough credit.

-- Columbine (columbine@inu.org), June 07, 2000.

Oh my God, oh my God, oh my God, The Wild Party.

Go. Please go, if you're anywhere near NYC and were remotely interested, because it's guaranteed to close soon, I'm sure. Go. GO.

I know why it's not selling. One reason, and it ain't the fact that you see some naked breasts. And it ain't the implied orgy. It's not the music, which is fabulous. It's not the performances--Toni Collette is riveting, my boyfriend Mandy is unbelievably restrained (for Mandy) and nasty, Eartha Kitt is--well--fabulously Eartha (my GOD, her LEGS!) and the ensemble is all wonderful.

It's the DIRECTION. My God, George C. Wolfe. The show runs 2 hrs and 20 with NO intermission, and there is an act break SO obvious it practically screams LOOK HERE WOULD BE A GOOD ACT BREAK out loud, and I am not kidding. And the beginning 25% of the show in NO way matches the rest, like he was on LSD or something for the first few weeks of design and blocking and then woke up. I mean, this man moronically directed it. He's rumored, between this and "On the Town", to have spent something like $18 million of their endowment and is now teetering on the edge of having his ass fired.

So. Bad direction. Wonderful music (maybe the best new music since RENT, with the possible exception of Ragtime). Across the board wonderful performances. Good, solid book. If you can go, go. Tickets are damn cheap. It's on the TKTS board every single day.

We got to meet Eartha, who was polite and quiet and signed our posters and left to walk her poodle. We waited for Toni, mainly, but she never came out. Mandy came out, though, and since I was closest to the stage door, practically walked into me. "Hi," he said, and I was literally dumbfounded and unable to say nothing else except "Hi" back, and it was sort of a mumble. After some lady jumped forward with program in hand, I snapped out of it enough to hand him my poster to sign and to tell him how much I'd liked the show. No kiss, but the twinkle in his eye told me he remembered what we'd shared in that stage alley in Philadelphia. :-)

(Delusion? Nah.)

Oh--one last funny story (apparently I've decided to use Kymm's forum as my journal). We walked out of the Virginia and across the street was a limo. The driver was standing up against it holding up a tiny sign.

The sign read PATINKIN.

We cracked up, of course. We laughed even harder when a woman went up to him and quietly explained that Mandy was the male star of the show and he could probably (and SHOULD probably) put the sign away. The driver rather sheepishly complied--AND moved the car in front of the stage door, where it belonged.

-- Melissa (centerbeth@yahoo.com), June 07, 2000.

O Melissa, feel free! It's great to see a few paragraphs from you again.

It's funny, I was talking to the Broadway freak at my job about the Tonys, and he had seen The Wild Party a few months ago. I said that it looked better than I had heard on the Tonys, and he said "It is two and a half hours long with no intermission! And there was the perfect place for it!" so it seems that it's a universal complaint.

John Simon, the meanest critic in all the land, hates George C. Wolfe more than anyone alive, he foams at the mouth whenever he has to review something of his.

How the hell does one spend 18 million bucks on two shows? I was trying to figure out how many shows I could do for 18 million dollars, and I believe that it's 10 gazillion.

I'm seeing Superstar first, but maybe after this two show marathon of all rehearsals all the time is over, I'll have time to see Wild Party. And I'll need to have the catheter fitted, natch.

-- Kymm (kymmz1@yahoo.com), June 08, 2000.

Melissa, great story about The Wild Party. I'm proud that you showed such restraint around Mandy. I might have thrown myself prostrate at his feet. I'm not kidding.

New Yorkers, let us know if there's any word about this show closing. I'm thinking about a trip for late summer and I'd like to start getting my show plans in order. Thanks!

-- dora (dora@wordsdiminish.com), June 08, 2000.

O, and I would like to make something clear, Miss Liss, Mandy kissed me at the stage door for Evita in 1979, and put his arm around me, and asked me to participate in a practical joke on a friend--he put his arm around my shoulder and whispered in my ear to run up to that guy over there, a crew member on the show, and ask for his autograph. I, of course, would have cheerfully jumped off a cliff had he asked me, so I did so. The crew member was non-plussed, but I insisted, and he signed "Patti Lupone" on my programme.

Unless he pulled that trick all the time, he might actually remember me!

-- Kymm (kymmz1@yahoo.com), June 08, 2000.

Melissa, looks like you saw Wild Party just in time. It's closing June 11th. Totally bummed. I REALLY wanted to see it.

-- Tania (mimim73@yahoo.com), June 08, 2000.

Alright, all y'all. Back away slooowly from Jesus Christ Superstar, because it is MINE. :) I, too, saw Ted Neeley and Carl Anderson perform it in LA, and dear God, did they blow me away. I've seen it a few times since, with Ted, but Judas is my favorite character ever and Carl is my favorite Judas ever so nothing can compete with the first time. I'm probably going to be in NYC at the end of July, and if I don't see Superstar while I'm there, I'll die. (Anyone want to go?)

That said, my little sister and I are both huge theater geeks. We get each other tickets for every holiday and event... she's graduating next week and getting Lion King tickets. Her favorite is RENT, so we've seen it about 5 times. My favorite is, as I said, JCS. I recently discovered Guys and Dolls, and the broadway recording currently lives in my car CD player.

I had a job where I was the only person working in the office, and I used to put on Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat and actually PERFORM THE WHOLE THING in an empty office. I am that big of a nerd.

And yes, I have fantasies about singing duets with people, but I'm not telling who. :)

-- Monique (megbyb@hotmail.com), June 08, 2000.

Ha! When I was doing really dull catering jobs, I used to quietly, under my breath, see how far I could get in the score for Les Miz, starting from the beginning. Pretty far, actually!

-- Kymm (kymmz1@yahoo.com), June 11, 2000.

Tony who?

-- Ray Watkins (rayadj67@hotmail.com), January 16, 2002.